One Last Call
by theSardonyx
Summary: Arthur's in a plane that's flying on it's last engine and the old woman beside him convinces him to call a random number so he won't be alone in his last moments. The notion was ridiculous, but he acquiesces.
1. Old Women's Instincts

**/ Tada.! New chapter story. This one's short, though. Enjoy.! :) /**

CHAPTER ONE

 _Old Women's Instincts_

Arthur didn't know what to feel about his current predicament, but perhaps calling it that was an understatement. Maybe he should just think about it as it is, his "predicament" being seated in a plane that was destined to crash. He was most likely facing certain death, but he didn't feel panicked, nor did he feel even the least bit terrified.

He figured there was no reason to feel threatened by death. After all, he was on the plane exactly because no one wanted him from where he came from. He had been kicked out of his own house by his jealous brothers, he had found out that his girlfriend of three years had been cheating on him since the beginning, and he had been wrongly accused of treason and had been fired from his job.

He wasn't afraid of death simply because he had nothing more to lose.

Perhaps his life was a sob story, but he didn't really dwell much on it. He was on the plane because he planned to start anew, but perhaps death was also a new beginning.

"Aren't you scared?"

Arthur looked at his seatmate, an old woman who was similarly not panicking. She even still had her knitting needles out, her fingers still dexterously working the yarn with a knit, two, three, and a purl.

"No, I suppose not."

"That's not quite a reaction suitable for such a young man."

Arthur shrugged. Perhaps so.

"Aren't you worried about people who'll miss you?"

"I'm on this plane exactly because no one would miss me," he huffed.

She gave him a loud chuckle, momentarily pausing in her knitting. "But maybe you just haven't found the person who'll miss you."

At that, Arthur found himself giving her a small smile. "Perhaps. But now it's too late."

"Naw," she said, shaking her head and a knitting needle tangled in purple yarn at him. "It's never too late. And coincidences come right when you need them." She arranged her needlework but her fingers stayed still.

"Maybe you can try dialing a random number right now and the person on the other end will turn out to be the person who'll miss you."

Arthur scoffed at the idea. It was true that coincidences work very mysteriously, but he seriously doubted that things will turn out like the old woman said. Still, she looked expectantly at him, not even resuming her needlework yet, and he knew he wouldn't shake her gaze unless he actually did what she wanted him to do.

"Oh, alright," he sighed, giving the old woman an exasperated but fond smile. He couldn't stay mad at old people, after all. "I'll mash my keypad until I get nine numbers and call it. Will you leave me alone if no one answers?"

She gave him a toothy grin. "Someone will, I'm sure. Call it an old woman's instinct, if you will."

And so with another sigh, Arthur did mash his keypad and pushed the call button once he had "typed" in nine numbers. But while he was expecting an operator's voice saying that the number is out of service, he instead got rings.

Rings. Someone was going to answer his call.

The old woman, seemingly aware that her instincts were right, resumed her knitting.

~.;*;.~

"Lovino, when are _you_ going to get a girlfriend?" The Italian put the plates he was holding down on the table with a loud huff.

"Never, _nonna_. Now can we _please_ stop talking about this?"

His grandmother chuckled. "Why? Little Feli was able to catch a handsome blond guy. Why not you? And we all know that you're smoother with your pick-up lines, of course."

Lovino's face turned red at the accusation. He gave one last huff before picking up the plates he had set down earlier and retreating into the kitchen. But of course, his grandmother wasn't one to be discouraged.

"Maybe you could get your own blond too if you went out more often," she called from the dining room and he rolled his eyes.

" _Nonna_ , I don't _need_ a girlfriend nor a boyfriend. I'm perfectly fine with my life right now, thank you very much."

"But I want great grandchildren," his grandmother whined.

"If I get a boyfriend, you still won't."

"Ah, but I least I'd know you won't be lonely when I'm gone."

" _Nonna_..." He sighed and made his way back to the dining room, sitting down in front of his smiling grandmother.

"Please don't say things like that."

She reached across the table and held his hand, still smiling. "You know I'll leave at one point, right? It's no use going around the subject."

"But it doesn't have to be soon..."

His grandmother sighed. "Lovino, letting go is also a form of loving. You'll understand, I'm sure."

It was his turn to sigh. "Still..."

She shook her head and sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll keep the 'when I'm gone' talk until I'm sure my time is near." Lovino's face scrunched up at this remark, but he relented nonetheless.

It was in the middle on his somber moment that the phone rang. The two people at the table sighed. Lovino's grandmother patted his hand before letting go and letting him stand to get the call.

"You know," she said when he was almost out the door. "I have a feeling this is going to be your blond."

Lovino looked back at his grandmother, shaking his head at her grin. "It's probably another prank call. I've been getting a lot of those lately."

"No, it's going to be your blond. My gut tells me so."

At this, he rolled his eyes and continued on his way to the phone.

 **/****

 *** This is pre-written. I will update on MWF next week. And yes, that means this fic only has four chapters. uwu**

 *** Also, clarification for those waiting for the Can't Be Gone update: it's not happening. I realized it would be pushing it if I even make an epilogue, so I suppose that's going to stay like that. I've also marked the fic as Complete for all the new guys, so please ignore the last chapter's AN. Sorry.!**

 *** Please review.! :)**

 ***/**


	2. Two Lonely Hearts

CHAPTER TWO

 _Two Lonely Hearts_

It was funny how someone who wasn't afraid of dying from a plane crash can be so terrified of someone answering his call.

Still, Arthur couldn't help feeling that way. He was going to talk to a stranger that according to an old woman's instincts would miss him, after all. If he wanted to be missed at all, he would have to make a good impression.

He sighed. He really shouldn't get his hopes up, but the seed had been planted and there was no erasing that deceptively warm feeling in his chest.

The ringing stopped and it was the signal that somebody had picked up. He swallowed and tried to speak, but his throat felt strangely dry and he couldn't get a sound out. He stared, wide-eyed and just a little bit terrified, at the old woman beside him, who only gave him a crooked grin.

"If you're not going to speak, I'm going to hang up," a male voice said in a language that he couldn't understand but was somehow sure was a Latin language. Arthur cleared his throat to get across that he'd respond.

"I'm sorry, but I don't speak, uhh, Spanish," he said sheepishly. His gaze once again strayed to the old woman, who had paused in her knitting and was laughing silently.

"It's Italian, _bastardo_ , not Spanish," the voice replied with slightly accented English. "And why the fuck are you calling me if you can't speak it?"

"To be honest I just dialed a random number and reached you." Arthur's voice wavered at the end, his embarrassment showing. He was half-tempted to hang up, the warm feeling of hope in his chest almost dissipating. The man on the other end of the line didn't seem to find it amusing to be called by a complete stranger.

"I'm hanging up." Those were Arthur's fears vocalized and he suddenly felt desperate.

"No, wait! Please don't..." he said before he could think and he turned red in embarrassment. He was expecting to actually be hung up on, but the warmth in his chest rose again when a few seconds passed and he still didn't hear the dial tone.

"What is it then?" the voice sounded irritated, but at least he was still there.

"I just... I needed someone to talk to," Arthur admitted.

"Don't you have friends?"

"No."

There was silence on the other line.

"That's..." A huff. "How the fuck am I supposed to respond to that?"

Arthur didn't know either.

~.;*;.~

Having someone admit so bluntly that they didn't have any friends to talk to made Lovino extremely uncomfortable. He wasn't the epitome of good social skills - that was Feliciano - but he had a close friend or two. What the fuck kind of person was this guy that he didn't have any?

He didn't sound so bad though. Lovino thought that he actually sounded lonely, despite the fact that he had nonchalantly denied having friends. Heck, he remembered how desperate the voice had been when he announced that he was hanging up, and now he just couldn't bring himself to even think of doing it.

"Alright fine," he said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm staying. Now what exactly did you want to talk about?"

"Umm..." Oh, goddammit, he didn't even have a topic at hand? "I'm not actually sure. I just..."

Lovino wasn't dealing with this. Desperate and without friends or not, he wasn't dealing with any kind of bullshit-

"I need a person to talk to before I die? It's a bit stupid, I know."

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Lovino demanded.

"Well..." There was a bit of silence, as the guy was thinking. "I'm on a plane. And it's kind of crashing, I guess."

"Kind of crashing?!" All of this must be bullshit, a part of him thought, this stranger just saying so nonchalantly as if it wasn't a tragedy, as if he wasn't actually going to die. But if anything, Lovino could hear resignation, like the stranger had just accepted his fate and this phone call was the small respite that he had against the thought of dying.

Maybe that's because he didn't have friends.

Fuck, that thought hurt more than Lovino thought it would.

He imagined it, dying without anyone missing you, and he shuddered. He shuddered at just how _sad_ being in that situation would be, and he shuddered at how easy it was to imagine. It shouldn't have been easy to imagine; he was surrounded by people who loved him. There was Feliciano, his _Nonna_ , Toni...

Okay, not a lot, but at least? But he could see how someone like this stranger would be desperate enough to just randomly mash his keys and cross his fingers that someone would pick up and talk to him in his last moments.

"Hehe, yeah," the stranger laughed. Lovino bit his lip at how empty that sounded. "You don't have to stay for more than ten minutes so-"

"No, shut up," he blurted out, maybe a little bit angrier than he intended. "You're dying and no one will miss you." He swallowed a lump in his throat at that. "It's not stupid, okay? We've never met and I don't know your name but you know what's stupid? It's that you're even thinking that I'm going to hang up on you upon hearing about that. I'm not a heartless bastard, geez."

"I... I didn't actually expect you to believe me."

"I didn't expect to believe you either. And trust me, I'd normally have hung up after hearing that kind of thing, because you _know_ it sounds like total bullshit. But..."

He could hear the stranger hold his breath on the other end of the line.

"You have an expressive voice, you know." Lovino's voice had gone soft, a complete turnaround from his earlier angry tone. "And sincerity is not something you can fake. You're trying to sound nonchalant but it only sounds resigned. That's why I decided you were telling the truth."

For a few moments the line was silent except for the soft breaths of the stranger. As if he couldn't believe his ears and needed some time to process what Lovino had said.

After a while, he spoke again. "I'm Arthur, by the way."

The Italian smiled despite himself. "Hey. I'm Lovino."

 **/****

 *** They "meet". Yay.! And of course Lovino is as crass as usual, even when talking to a dying man.**

 *** Next update's on Wednesday. Please review.! :)**

 ***/**


	3. Why Remember?

**/ This is posted at 1 am because why not. Also because I'm impatient. :P /**

CHAPTER THREE

 _Why Remember?_

The old woman was smirking at him. Wow. It's almost as if Arthur could pretend that they were sitting somewhere else instead of a slowly plummeting plane. There weren't actually any bets, but _damn_ , he felt like he lost something big here.

Or not, since he scored a temporary friend. Give the Brit a round of applause, please, that he wasn't actually going to die anonymously like he thought he would.

"So what the fuck are we going to talk about? The newest fashion in Milan, your college crush, or heck, your goldfish-"

Arthur laughed. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt so... _happy_ at that moment; he didn't know when the Italian's pity would run out. But for those few precious seconds when Lovino tried to start a conversation, he felt like he wasn't actually going to die.

"I don't have a goldfish." Arthur just knew his smile could be heard from the other end of the line. "Maybe we can talk about yours instead."

"Nuh-uh. We're talking about you because you're the one that has to leave a memory before he dies," came the retort.

"Do you want to remember me? I'm just a dying stranger on the phone." Arthur frowned. "I'm a _dying_ stranger on the phone. We won't talk again after this. Ever. So why would you want to remember?"

There was a pause. "You were the one who called." Lovino's voice was soft, as if hesitating.

"I know that," the Brit said, sighing. "But I've already imposed myself on you by calling and making you stay by telling you I'm dying. I don't want to burden you with information that will soon become meaningless."

"Isn't that for me to decide? Whether something has meaning or not, I think that's up to me when I hear them."

"Well, what use would they be? I'm dying, if I haven't stressed that enough already. I'm dying and nobody cares about me." Arthur bit his lower lip, the hope that he felt earlier replaced by guilt. He's just putting strain on Lovino by making him remember useless and meaningless information. He's just wasting the Italian's time by subjecting him to his drivel.

He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. This was a mistake. I shouldn't have made you stay."

Arthur waited for a few seconds to see if Lovino would respond and when he didn't, the Brit took it as an affirmative and promptly hung up.

~.;*;.~

Lovino stood staring at the wall for quite some time after, listening to the dial tone and then silence. He didn't know how to feel. Arthur had called him by accident when looking for someone to speak with in his last moments but hung up a bit after and saying that it was a mistake. That there was no use remembering a dead man. That nobody cared about him.

Lovino gripped the receiver in his hand tighter. He cared, dammit. During that short while that they talked, Arthur had become someone Lovino cared about. It might just be pity talking, but he had agreed to stay and that should be something, right?

Arthur was right when he said that it's useless to remember a dying stranger. But that's if only pity was at work. With Lovino, it wasn't just pity; it was _sympathy_. He felt like he knew how Arthur should actually be feeling. He knew the despair hidden in the Brit's nonchalance and the melancholy behind the small laughs.

He knew.

Which is why he couldn't accept that Arthur would still think of being a burden at a time like this.

"So, who was it, Lovi?" His grandmother asked, peeking from the kitchen door. He didn't respond however, too busy crossing his fingers and muttering curses under his breath while waiting for Arthur to answer.

It took a few seconds after when Arthur finally picked up and the Italian wasted no time in launching into a spiel.

"Of course they're still fucking important!" Lovino heard the Brit yelp at his volume, but he didn't care because he had something to say and dammit, that bastard is going to listen. " _I_ want to know about you. _I_ want to know more about this _stronzo_ who called me with nothing in mind but the fact that he had to call someone before he dies. Isn't that enough? I stayed of my own accord. _I_ decided to stay on this line because no one can tell me what to do, _capisce_?"

"That's… I…"

"So tell me about you." The Italian kept his voice even and modulated this time. "And in return, I'll tell you about me. Clock's ticking and I reckon we have less than ten minutes left…"

"The pilot said the remaining engine would probably hold up for another fifteen minutes tops," Arthur's voice came in a whisper.

Lovino clicked his tongue. "That's still a short time, you know." He sucked a breath. "And believe me when I say that I wish we have more time. Since _you_ haven't hung up on me yet for being an utter douche, I suppose I think we could have been good friends."

"I see…" He could practically hear the Brit smile at the other end of the line. "Thank you."

"Now that I've said that annoyingly sappy speech and you've practically promised to tell me about yourself-"

"I don't think I said anything of the sort-"

"I want to get another thing out of the way." Lovino cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes at the kitchen door where his grandmother, with a knowing smirk on her face, was still peeking behind.

"Are you blond?"

 **/****

 *** Hehe. I hope you guys remember the genres this story is tagged under. *sly smile***

 *** I have a confession: Chapter 4 might not be posted on Friday. This story IS pre-written (I didn't lie about that) but posting these and rereading the fourth chapter, I find that it might be a bit too rushed. You guys will just have to wait for Friday to see if I decided to go through with the current version. Otherwise, I'm already apologizing in advance. Sorry and please bear with me for a little while longer.**

 *** Please review. :)**

 ***/**


	4. Goodbyes

**/ So I never got around to revising this chapter. And I probably never will because thesis makes your life shitty like that. That said, I apologize for the delay. Here's your last chapter. :) /**

CHAPTER FOUR

 _Goodbyes_

Arthur found it a ironic that the last fifteen minutes of his life were also the best. Because of this, however, it was getting hard for him to let go. He thought he had accepted the thought of death, but that was before Lovino came and gave him a reason to live. Now he found that the phone call really was a mistake, not only because he didn't doubt that the Italian would be left in the mud with the weight of Arthur's memory on his mind, but also because he suddenly felt like he wasn't ready.

After fifteen minutes of talking to this brash Italian at the other end of the line, sharing random stories and things about themselves, he was suddenly afraid to die.

Because now someone cared and now someone would miss him.

"... so I said, ' _Idiota_ , you should have known better to-'" The Italian paused in his storytelling. "I hear loud beeps from there."

"Lovino…" Arthur swallowed. He really wasn't ready for this because all he could feel in his gut was dread. "The last engine has failed and..."

Silence.

Arthur panicked. _No please_ , he thought, gripping his phone tightly and clenching his teeth. _I need you now more than ever… please… stay… for just a little while longer…_

"Lovino, I… I'm sorry…"

Still, there was silence from the other end of the line. At least, he supposed, the Italian hasn't hung up on him yet.

The blond sighed. "I knew this was a mistake. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Lovino. I…

"I was ready to die, you know. I was ready to go to the hell everybody always said I would go to. I wasn't afraid of falling from the sky in this huge broken tin bird and I wasn't afraid of seeing Death in his black robe holding a scythe over my head. I wasn't afraid, until I spoke to you.

"Now, I'm terrified. I don't want to die anymore. You gave me hope, Lovino. And while I'm glad that I'll have somebody to remember me after I'm gone, I'm sorry that I have to leave you at all. I'm sorry that you met me under these circumstances and I'm sorry that you'll have to bear with this burden. I know you said that this was your choice, but I'm still sorry.

"I guess this is where we part. If it wasn't like this… If we had met before my time is up and we had spent more time with each other, I… I think we would have been inseparable. I…"

Arthur took a breath. He's unnerved that his new friend still hasn't said a word but time's a-wasting and he had to make good use of his last seconds. He had to say _it_.

"I like you, Lovino. And I suppose you can take that in any way you like." He gave one last smile and if the Italian was telling the truth about his voice being so expressive, he would have heard.

"Goodbye, Lovino. May you live a happy life."

And finally, _finally_ , the Italian's voice sounded from the other end of the line.

"Goodbye, Arthur. May you die a peaceful death."

And Arthur closed his eyes as the plane hit the ground and he was no more.

~.;*;.~

Fifteen minutes had gone by so fast. Maybe too fast. Lovino still wasn't sure what to feel about what had just transpired. Should he be sad? Angry? He didn't know. He was just confused and there's that feeling of horror in his gut but also this feeling of contentment.

He heard Arthur's speech, but he wasn't able to speak. He was too busy trying to figure out where the last fifteen minutes had gone, what exactly Arthur was to him right now. They said you can make a friend out of a stranger in five minutes. Can you make something more out of a stranger in fifteen when one of you is dying?

"I like you, Lovino. And I suppose you can take that in any way you like."

Apparently, you can. But did Lovino like Arthur too? Did he feel attached to him in these measly fifteen minutes he was given? Did he feel strongly attached to this dying man without even knowing what he looked like more than what he had heard from the man himself?

"Goodbye, Lovino. May you live a happy life."

He heard the smile, of course, because the Brit's voice was able to carry even that on. And perhaps there wasn't really a question. The answer, he supposed, was yes.

"Goodbye, Arthur. May you live a peaceful death."

The connection was cut off and Lovino was met with the dial tone, but he was calm when he put the receiver down. It wasn't as if there was anything he could do to change fate and he knew that Arthur had heeded his final request.

Given that, he was going to fulfill his friend's final request too.

"So," his grandmother asked immediately after he sat down in front her. "Was it your blonde?"

Lovino simply gave her a somber smile and a one-word answer.

"Yes."

 **/ Review.? /**


End file.
